In Pawar vs Pawar, 2 Meets In Mumbai Today, Race For Numbers: 10 Facts

The two NCP factions will hold key meets in Mumbai today to demonstrate that the bulk of the party's legislators are with them. The party has been in firefighting mode since Ajit Pawar rebelled and joined the Maharashtra government last week.

Here are 10 facts on this big story:

The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has issued a whip to all its legislators asking them to attend a key meeting at 1 pm at Mumbai's Nariman Point today.

The whip was issued by Jitendra Awhad, who was named as the party's chief whip on Sunday.

Supporters have put banners outside Sharad Pawar's residence asking people to come to support the "83-year-old warrior who is fighting alone".

In Bandra, the rival group headed by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar will hold a separate meeting in a bid to prove that they have the support of the majority of the party's MLAs.

In a shock move last week, Ajit Pawar resigned as the leader of the Opposition and hours later took oath as the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister. Eight other NCP legislators were also sworn in and the state government is expected to announce a cabinet expansion soon.

The NCP has 53 MLAs in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. According to sources, Ajit Pawar claims that he has the support of 43. But Jayant Patil, a leader in the Sharad Pawar faction, has said that some of the MLAs who signed up for the other side claimed they did not know what they were signing.

Lok Sabha MP Amol Kolhe, who attended the swearing-in ceremony, issued a statement saying that his loyalties were with Sharad Pawar. He said was restless over the developments in the outfit in Maharashtra and wanted to quit but calmed down after meeting the party president.

Sharad Pawar's party has moved a petition before Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar seeking the disqualification of Ajit Pawar the 8 MLAs who have taken oath as ministers in the Eknath Shinde-led government.

Praful Patel, minister in the UPA government and once a staunch Sharad Pawar loyalist, speaking about his defection said that the Opposition lacks a "central party" that is capable of getting 150 seats.

"Unless you have a big party -- do you find any party that will win 150 seats next time? Of course, nothing is impossible in politics but I'm just saying by a reasonable yardstick you measure, no party is going to have 150 seats. And if you don't have 150 seats, a central party, then you can't form a coalition around that number," Mr Patel told NDTV in an exclusive interview.